Enjoy!

Edit: Here’s another trailer. Looks like this is the one that was actually shown on Saturday.

The screenings of the 2010 senior thesis films will be held May 7-9. The screenings alternate nights, with a digital program and a 16mm program.

Friday, May 7

• 8pm–Digital

Saturday, May 8

• 8pm–16mm

Sunday, May 9

• 2pm–Digital
• 8pm–16mm

$5 admission and come early!

This was it – the final hurrah as mad people filtered to the front steps of Olin after 4 pm to celebrate the passing of today’s senior thesis deadline.  Once all references were noted and weighty tomes printed, a crowd of writers and their well-wishers popped open a lot of bubbly over multiple rounds of the Fight Song.

Some had champagne, others drank 40s (in honor, no doubt, of the 40 days left before seniors leave Wesleyan for good), all felt palpable relief.

MC and I were there today, but were with you in spirit the whole time. Congratulations writers!

Many more photos after the jump – you might recognize some of our THESISCRAZY featured writers from the past few days on the steps, in quite different moods than you last saw them.

[Show as slideshow]

They’re so close. SO CLOSE. Theses are due in less than 24 hours.

On Sunday Sheek and I once again took time out of our thesis-free schedules to run around and interview some seniors powering through the final two days of thesis agony and/or formatting minutia.

We checked out the swanky new carrels in Albritton, potentially exposed ourselves to radiation in a cluttered sedimentology lab, and found an impromptu bed set up in a carrel.

[Show as slideshow]

Profiles after the jump!

Satrio A. Wicaksono ‘10 and Steve Schwarz ‘10
Cluttered sedimentology lab, 4th floor Exley

Satrio’s working title: Multi-Peroxide Ostracode Analyses of Paleosalinity in Two Bays, Vieques, Puerto Rico (E&ES)
What he has left to do: “I might need to do major revisions, but I’m sure I can get it done in time. I don’t have too much to do. One of my readers is in Bangkok, so I have to email it to him, put it in a PDF first.”
Plans for Tuesday: “I have a major dance rehearsal. After, I’ll sleep. A lot.”
Advice for future thesis writers: “Start thinking about it in junior or even sophomore year. I had my topic in sophomore year.”
On his workspace: “It makes me feel sciencey. I like it because it gives me inspiration. Also, whenever I need sources, I can just pull out the book I need. There’s radiation danger in this room, technically, because of the old machines in here that no one uses anymore.” (Sheek’s response: “Looks like something out of Lost.“)

Steve’s working title: Antarctic Glacial and Geologic History (E&ES)
How he’s feeling: “The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter every hour.”
On whether he’s being productive: (Silence, then Satrio and Steve both explode in fits of laughter)
Plans for Tuesday: “It depends on when I turn it in–I’m aiming for late Monday, but it might be Tuesday. Then I’ll probably go to the Olin steps like everyone else.”
When asked about a box of tiny vials: “This box is basically my thesis.”

Alex Gold ‘10
Home Avenue

Working title: Tipping in Two-Sided Software Markets (Math-Econ)

On how he feels: “I feel great. I’ve actually been getting outside lately.”

On his workspace: “It’s looked like this pretty much since spring break. It has gotten worse because the old drafts are over there and the newer ones are spreading towards here. I had a carrel, but I just abandoned it. All my housemates are writing theses, so the house has been disgusting and we haven’t been eating. Actually my housemate’s dad cooks a lot, and he just sent us a bunch of food in the mail, so we’ve been eating that. He sent it after she told him she had jelly beans for breakfast one day.”

Plans for Tuesday: “Drink a lot of champagne. A lot. Of champagne. Although I was dismayed to learn that I have two problem sets due by the end of next week. So those will get done somehow.”

Alex Provo ‘10
Fountain Avenue

Working title: Notions of Method: Text and Photograph in Methods of Connoisseurship (Art History)

How she feels: “I’m good. I’m doing footnotes and I hate them more than anything in the planet.”

On her workspace: “I actually have a carrel but I’m here because I can’t work before 11 at night, and being in Olin doesn’t help. It’s hard to go back and forth because I need all these books. For winter break I brought them all home. After break I loaded them all into my huge suitcase to bring them back to my carrel, but it was so heavy, I couldn’t lift it. So I had to fill my housemate’s two small suitcases and take two trips.”

On her books: “I’ve started calling these books by their names. Like, ‘Where’s Carol?’ …She’s right here, actually. She’s very helpful.”

Plans for Tuesday: “Right after I turn it in I think I will have a beverage on the steps. And I’m gonna do crafts. I have a whole closet of craft supplies downstairs.”

Indee Mitchell ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “I don’t have one yet. It’s about non-normative expression of gender and sexuality in Black females. I have no idea what my title is, and that kind of scares me, but whatevs.” (Dance)

On the final days: “At this point, I feel kinda crazy. I feel like I’m not gonna sleep for the next two days. I’m just really burned out. I’m just ready to be over.”

On her carrel: “I love how big it is, I can’t lie. I love my carrel. I’ve spent plenty of hours napping under this desk.

After Tuesday: “I’m going to drink. A lot. I’m going to be fun again. Going to do some good senior bonding–I’ve totally been missing that. But mostly I am going to drink. A lot.”

Dan Bloom ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “I’m not quite sure if I’m going to keep it, but right now it’s Yankee Doodle Keep it Up, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the Music and the Step and With the Girls be Handy: Dance in Early American Culture. I’m deciding whether or not to be ballsy with the funny title or not.” (History)

Work to be done: “I moved 90% of my introduction to my conclusion and 90% of my conclusion to my introduction. I have to do the bibliography and citations.”

On the copy of Peter Pan in his carrel: “When I graduated from high school, one of my teachers gave it to me to remind me to always stay young at heart. I keep it in here to remind myself to stay young.”

On the carrel: “I hate carrels. I don’t usually work in here. I prefer the third floor, that back row.”

Simon Reinhardt ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “I’m writing about Jorge Luís Borges and Roberto Bolano. They both write fiction that’s about literature.” (COL)

Left to do: “I’m just mostly editing now. It’s really just cosmetic edits.”

How he feels: “It’s pretty exhausting right now. I definitely feel like I just want to be done with it. I think I’ll feel good about it once I have some perspective on it, once I’ve taken some space.”

On carrel snacks: “These Wheat Thins are pretty important.”

Plans for Tuesday: “Relax. Drink on the Olin steps. Probably not that much because senior cocks is on Wednesday and I have a paper due Friday.”

Jenny Lo ‘10 and Stephanie Gomory ‘10
Thesis buddies in the PAC Lab

Stephanie’s working title: Found in Translation: Revision, Revisitation, and Rewriting in the French Emigré Works of Vladmir Nabokov and Milan Kundera (French)
How she feels: “Actually really anxious. I don’t know why. I’m pretty much done. I have to edit it, do the bibliography, scan a few photos.”
On her workspace: “Actually, it’s not bad. Even before my laptop broke I worked here. Sometimes they lock it on you. They let us stay here the other night because they felt bad for us.”
Plans for Tuesday: “Jump up and down a lot.”

Jenny’s working title: Achieving the Unexpected: Social Change in Iran Since 1963
On research: “I tried two times to go to the country I’m writing about. I tried during the summer, three days before the election, but it fell through. I tried again to go in December. I left Wesleyan a week before finals. I went back to Hong Kong to apply for the visa, but a few days before my flight to Iran the visa got postponed. So I flew without a prior approved visa. I got to Dubai, then I found out I couldn’t get in the country without a prior departure visa. So I flew from Hong Kong to Dubai to Hong Kong again. That’s basically the intro to my thesis. I ended up Skyping with people for research instead.”
Advice for future thesis writers: “Start early. I started in January. January 22 I had 6 pages. I’d been trying to just plan for my trip before that and didn’t have time to write it.”
Plans for Tuesday: “We’ll drink. Are we streaking? We might be doing silly things that start with an S and end with G and involves T-R-E-A-K-I-N.”

Leah Lucid ‘10
Quantitative Analysis Center, Albritton

Working title: Discrimination Experiences of Latina/os: Mental Health Outcomes, Emotional Responses, and Coping Mechanisms (Psychology)

On her carrel: “I didn’t get an Olin carrel, so I heard that you could get one in the QAC if you were doing quantitative analysis. I got really lucky. I like the 24 hour access. The one fucked up thing about this carrel is the placement of the light sensors. They’ll just turn off randomly.”

Plans for Tuesday: “Driiiiink. I’m really looking forward to the Olin steps. Looking forward to popping champagne at 4. My housemates are all doing theses and we plan on waking up to mimosas on Wednesday.”

Peter Hull ‘10
Quantitative Analysis Center, Albritton

Working title: Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: Evidence from the Open-Economy Trilemma (Math-Econ)

On his progress: “It’s actually going pretty well. I’m doing last-minute editing. I guess you never really know when you’re done, you just have to stop at some point.”

On his carrel: “I have a landline in here. The sociology department intended to use this space for phone surveys, but it turned out they didn’t need the space. Having the computer here is great. I know people doing quantitative analysis in Olin and they bring their whole desktops to their carrel.”

Plans for Tuesday: “Tuesday will be the beginning of one of the silliest weeks I’ve ever had at college. Champagne is in the fridge, Tuesday night, senior cocks, Wesfest. I got some nice cigars–not the crappy Neon cigars.”

Andy Zhou ‘10
Sweet upstairs office, Freeman East Asian Studies Center

Working title: If I Were Born Under a Different Star: Life and Times of Mansfield Freeman (East Asian studies)

Progress: “I guess I’m OK. A couple of my friends are helping with revising. I’m basically in the revising stage. I need to tweak my footnotes.”

On his workspace: “I design posters for East Asian Studies, so they kind of gave me this room. Also I was the coordinator of the outreach program on Fridays, and this was my office. They decided I could stay here for my thesis. Also they have Freeman’s papers here and they didn’t want them to leave the building.”

Plans for Tuesday: “I’m leaving. Not forever, but I’m gonna take a few days and just go somewhere. Probably Boston. My girlfriend’s there.”

Good luck, writers! You’re so close!

Today we stumbled upon another pair of carrel neighbors, got offered more candy, learned that chick flicks can be analyzed using postmodernist theory, and spoke with a few seniors who had abandoned their carrels in favor of the often creepily quiet Smith Reading Room. (Sheek and I would like to offer an apology to the diligent Smith workers we disturbed with whispered interviews.)

[Show as slideshow]

Check out the profiles after the jump.

Miles Tokunow ‘10
Smith Reading Room

Working title: Adopting Histories, Theories, and Other Stories

Work left to do: “I have to finish my introduction. Typos. Finish my conclusion. Make a DVD. And finish my bibliography. It’ll get done. It’ll get done. I’m gonna be proud of it no matter how it turns out. I’ve written lots and lots of pages. It’s just wrapping up and packaging. I’m packaging right now.”

After 4 PM on Tuesday: “I’m gonna be stretching to go to class, unfortunately. After class… I’m not sure if I can tell you what I’m going to do. I want to start a bonfire. For my books.”

Lindsay Walsh ‘10 and Franni Paley ‘10
Carrel neighbors, 2nd floor Olin

Franni’s working title: The Like Totally Awesome Teenpics of Amy Heckerling
Favorite book in her bibliography: “Postmodern Chick Flicks. It’s my most cited source.”
How she’s feeling: “I’m in shock that it’s as long as it is. It’s 180 pages, which I was not expecting. At least my adviser’s not telling me that I suck anymore.”
Plans for after Tuesday: (Prolonged silence) … (Fit of laughter)

Lindsay’s working title: Brazil is Samba: Rhythm, Percussion, and Samba in the Formation of Brazilian National Identity (1902 – 1958)
How she’s feeling: “Sleepy. I feel sleepy. But, you know, I’ve got my snack food.”
What she still has to do: “Primarily just edits. At this point I know I’m not going to include all the intellectual edits that I would like to, but I’ll try. I have all the formal formatting done already, like the bibliography, because that’s how I procrastinate.”
Advice for future thesis writers: “Advice? Do I have … no.”
After Tuesday: “I have two bottles of champagne chilling in my fridge already. I went one step up from André. I figure this ocassion merits the $10 champagne instead of the $8 champagne.”

Arielle Golden ‘10
3rd floor Olin

Working title: Convivencia and Conversos: Problematizing Identity

On her carrel: “It’s always really hot in here. It’s a dilemma–do I open the door and keep my pants on or close the door and take off my pants? When you guys knocked, I was afraid some stranger was going to see me in my underwear.”

Advice for future thesis writers: “Keep a lot of candy around. Want any candy?”

After Tuesday: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I might start crying. It’ll be weird. I guess I’ll do something that’ll make me forget what my topic even was. I guess it’ll be sad not to have my little carrel home anymore.”

Nick Marshall ‘10
Shares a carrel with Hansel Tan ‘10 on the 4th floor of Olin, but today he was working in the Smith Reading Room.

Working title: Arming God: Demons, Myth, and Text in Spiritual Warfare Christianity

On his location change: “Yeah, I heard you were in my Cansel and you found harrel. I mean–I heard you were in my carrel and you found Hansel. I’ve moved all my stuff to the quiet room. It’s still pretty cluttered.”

On the ramen noodles in his carrel: “I had a water pot and a bowl, so I was eating a lot of meals in there. But the library stole my bowl and my fork.”

Plans for Tuesday: “My beard has to go. I’m gonna give myself a really big mustache. I’m gonna get drunk and shave. That’s my plan. I was gonna shave it on the steps of Olin but I realized I don’t have extension cords.”

Clare Trissel ‘10
Smith Reading Room

Working title: Fluid Figurations: Images of the Divine in the Writings of Gertrude of Helfta, Catherine of Sienna, and Teresa of Avia

How she’s feeling: “Really relaxed. Like really serene.”

Work left to do: “My conclusion, so about ten pages, but I feel pretty good about it. I have the weekend. I have some Red Bull.”

After 4 PM on Tuesday: “I’m gonna walk around in the sun, go to the steps cause I always wanted to be one of those people on the steps. Smoke a joint, then do my other work.”

On her carrel: “I don’t use it. It weirds me out. It got really crummy, there were snacks everywhere. Plus I’m loyal to Smith.”

More to come tomorrow! Next time: the new Albritton carrels, a sea urchin skeleton, and what happens when you lose the carrel lottery and have to work in your house.

If you or another senior you know are flipping out this weekend over thesis work, email us at asiddique@wes and mchall@wes with THESISCRAZY in the subject line, your name, thesis title (or subject, if you haven’t named it yet), where your carrel is, and when you’ll probably be there between now and Monday. Props if your thesis habitat is especially well-appointed/cavernous/disheveled/otherwise representative of your current state, let us take a photo of you and your space in all your cracked-out glory.

[Photos by Ashik Siddique '10]

We explored the carrel village on the 4th floor of Olin (which we didn’t even know existed), discovered that stale kosher-for-Passover peppermint patties taste like toothpaste, and realized that every senior has a unique way of saying that they’re going to get really drunk come Tuesday.

[Show as slideshow]

Profiles after the jump:

Rayna Edwards ‘10
2nd floor Olin

Working title: “Religious Microaggressions Towards American Muslims: Group Identity and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Affective Response”

Thoughts on the final days of writing: “I feel great. I mean, yeah, I feel pretty good about it. I don’t have a lot left to do. This is just mind-numbing bullshit now, formatting and whatnot.”

After Tuesday: “Get shwasty-face, obvi.”

On the Nicorette gum on her desk: “I’ve been staying here overnight. You get locked in–you can’t leave the building–and you’re basically confining yourself to a night of productivity. The gum gets me through. Do you want a week-old kosher Peppermint Pattie?”

Dan Charness ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “Beatle Boomers: The Beatles and their Generation”

Thoughts on the final days of writing: “I feel great. I feel fantastic. I freaked out last week. Now I’m just editing.”

After Tuesday: “You can quote my grandfather on this: ‘There isn’t a big enough bottle of champagne.’ He wrote books. He was a doctor. I’m going to sit with three bottles of champagne.”

Melina Aguilar ‘10 and Katie Boyce-Jacino ‘10
Joint carrel, 4th floor Olin

Melina’s working title: “The Paradox of the Cuentos Chinos: Future Chino-Ecuadorian Relations”
Thoughts on the final days of writing: “I’m scared. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish everything. I have some extreme editing to do. I have to change chapter structures, then find people to edit it in the next 24 hours.”
Plans for Tuesday: I have a dance practice at 6:00 right after theses are due. Then I’ll celebrate, I guess. I want to sleep a little. I’m gonna be done with school by then because I’m partially enrolled.

Katie’s working title: “The Ardent Voyage: The Struggle of the French Communist Opposition, 1920-1940″
Proofreading strategy: “I sent mine to my grandparents. My grandfather was a lot meaner than my adviser was.”
Plans for Tuesday: “I think I’ll have a bottle of wine with my friends and hang out for a day. I actually have a 15 page paper due Thursday, so I’ll assemble that somehow.”

Jason Krigsfeld ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “I don’t have one yet. It’s about parody, organized crime, and organize crime film in Japan.”

On Tuesday: “I’m going to be really, really, really, really fucked up on the steps.

Advice to future thesis writers: “It’s pretty important to have an adviser who is familiar with your subject. Try to get somebody who you’ve taken a class with that you liked, and then take a tutorial with them on the topic you’re interested in.”

Hansel Tan ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “Musical Beastliness in Le Roman de Fauvel: Chaillou’s “addicions” and Sensory Danger”

Thoughts on the last days of writing: “It’s an absolute crush right now. There’s so many things to do. I’ve been talking to a lot of people and they’re wondering if this was the right road to take.”

After Tuesday: “I’m gonna get shitfaced and it’s not gonna stop ’til Sunday.”

Advice to future thesis writers: “You definitely need passion to carry it through. If you don’t have passion you’re going to drop it after two months.”

Ian Staub ‘10
Microform room, Olin basement

Working title: “Redubbing the Underground: Cassette Culture in Transition”

What he still has to do: “I have to write a conclusion and work some afterthoughts into the introduction. And citations. And formatting citations.”

After Tuesday: (Deep thought) “I don’t know. I’ll probably get drunk. I’ll probably take a nap.”

Advice to future thesis writers: “Don’t go on the Internet.”

Sarah Rosenberg ‘10
4th floor Olin

Working title: “On Architecture and the Dancing Body: Changing Visuality”

On how she feels at this point: “Really calm. And compared to last year I feel like that’s kind of the general consensus. No complaining–it’s going to be wonderful once it’s done.”

Plans for Tuesday: “I’ll go to class and then drink champagne between classes and then go to my other class.”

Stay tuned for more! This weekend we venture into Exley, Allbritton, the distant land of Freeman House, and the abodes of those rare seniors who actually accomplish any work in the same place they live.

If you or another senior you know are flipping out this weekend over thesis work, email us at asiddique@wes and mchall@wes with THESISCRAZY in the subject line, your name, thesis title (or subject, if you haven’t named it yet), where your carrel is, and when you’ll probably be there between now and Monday. Props if your thesis habitat is especially well-appointed/cavernous/disheveled/otherwise representative of your current state, let us take a photo of you and your space in all your cracked-out glory.

[Photos by Ashik Siddique '10]

As slacker seniors who aren’t doing theses, Sheek and I decided to profile some of the seniors who haven’t seen the light of day since before spring break. We spent an hour running around Olin and Sci Li looking for these elusive seniors in their native habitat–the carrel.

[Show as slideshow]

Meet the intrepid writers we found today after the jump.

Leah Aronowsky ‘10
Open carrel, 3rd floor Olin

Working title: “Rethinking the State in the History of Birth Control”

On her carrel: “People have stopped to ask what I’m doing. They assume I’m some militant feminist or something. Someone asked me yesterday if it made me horny to read all these books. I said no.”

After Tuesday: “I’m gonna drink a lot and not come into the library for a really long time.”

Max Lavine ‘10
3rd floor Olin

Working title: “Don’t have one yet. It’s about post-anarchist theory and politics of knowledge production in the neo-liberal academy.”

Thoughts on the final days of writing: “Proof-reading 150 pages of your own writing fucking sucks.”
Advice to future thesis writers: “Get ready for some pain.”

After Tuesday: “Drink until my face falls off.”

Gina Yeomans and Greg Hurd ‘10
Carrel neighbors, Olin basement

Gina’s working title: “Justice for All? The Disparate Impact of Mass Incarceration on African American Communities”
Her advice for future thesis writers: “Write about something that’s really, really important to you.”

Greg’s working title: Rocks
Asked if he’ll be drinking champagne on the Olin steps on Tuesday: “I may not want to even be anywhere close to Olin library.”

Mytheos Holt ‘10
Group carrel, Olin 3A

Working title: “The Unchanging Republic: Prospects for a New Conservative Fusion”

Plans for Tuesday: “Two words: wine, cigars.”

Advice for future thesis writers: “You want to be absolutely certain that you really like your topic. It has to have been your passion for the past three years. I’ve been reading this stuff for fun since freshman year; this is just an exercise in critically analyzing it.”

Miriam Leshin ‘10
Olin 3A

Working title: “The New Great Migration: Re-defining the New South?”

What she still has to do: “I just changed my argument a little bit. So I’m tweaking my last two chapters.”

Advice for future thesis writers: “Do more work in the first semester than you think you need to do. I wrote my first chapter but I wish I had done more.”

Plans for after Tuesday: “Make up for the pain and social isolation of the past two weeks.”

Working title: “The Achievement Gap between Black and White Middle Class Students”

Plans for after Tuesday: “I’m going to get a haircut. I might sleep a lot, too, and also the wine thing.”

Thoughts on the final days of writing: “The paper is just getting really boring. But it’s almost over.”

Advice for future thesis writers: “Space your time properly, and use spring break wisely. Be open to constructive criticism.”

Chris Coleman ‘10
Cubicle carrel, Sci Li basement

Working title: “Meteorological and Glacial Ablation Controls on Annual Sediment Accumulation at Linnervatnet: Svalbard, Norway”

Plans for Tuesday: “I actually have practice. For track.”
Plans for after practice: “I’m gonna sit down and enjoy myself for a little while. On Thursday, I’m going to Houston with my research group to present our findings. We’re presenting to Exxon-Mobile, who funded the project. I think they might want us to work for them later on or something.”

Advice for future thesis writers: “Start early. Spring break I was here for the whole two weeks, working 8 to 9 hours a day. Also, keep a good relationship with your advisers.”

Yeah academics!

If you or another senior you know are flipping out this weekend over thesis work, email us at asiddique@wes and mchall@wes with THESISCRAZY in the subject line, your name, thesis title (or subject, if you haven’t named it yet), where your carrel is, and when you’ll probably be there between now and Monday. Props if your thesis habitat is especially well-appointed/cavernous/disheveled/otherwise representative of your current state, let us take a photo of you and your space in all your cracked-out glory.

[All photos by Ashik Siddique '10] ]]> http://wesleying.org/2010/04/08/thesiscrazy-the-final-stretch/feed/ 9 http://wesleying.org/2010/04/04/adventures-outside-the-mushroom-kingdom-a-super-mario-musical/ http://wesleying.org/2010/04/04/adventures-outside-the-mushroom-kingdom-a-super-mario-musical/#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 03:43:17 +0000 sahm http://wesleying.org/?p=37240 It was inevitable. Eventually, someone would develop a Super Mario musical. The only question was whether we would obtain such a powerful entity before the Russians. Thanks to Anthony Martello ‘10, the day has finally arrived. For his senior thesis recital, Anthony has written and directed Adventures Outside the Mushroom Kingdom:

As the days pass, Mario becomes bored with his repetitive life in the Mushroom Kingdom. Saving the Princess, fighting Bowser, protecting the Toads – Mario wishes he could escape the endless cycle. But after a tragic accident, Mario enters the real world and learns that life outside of video games is not what he thought it would be.

Join your favorite video game icon in his musical misadventures outside the Mushroom Kingdom. Take a short break from work and theses to enjoy a hilarious performance with plenty of references to the classic games!

Wednesday, April 7th at 7:00 pm (in WestCo Cafe)
Thursday, April 8th at 8:00 pm (in WestCo Cafe)
Friday, April 9th at 9:00 pm (in Crowell Concert Hall)

No Tickets needed! Sponsored by 2nd Stage 2010.

Full cast/musical talent listing after the jump:

Timur Khanachet as Bowser
Chelsea Goldsmith as Green Koopa
Reuben Johnson as Luigi
Damien Privitera as Mario
Emily Weiss as Peach
Phil Singleton as Toad
Madeleine Holland as Red Koopa

Music featuring:
Joanna Dicke
Janet Cushey
Howard Tobochnik
Alexander Fertig
Miriam Smith-Drelich
Craig Ewer
Daniel Griffin
Evan Schnoll

Come get a glimpse of some real live fiddlers convening at Wesleyan this Sunday afternoon. Join us Sunday March 28th at 3 o’clock in Russell House for a short-sweet fiddling event!

Bring your ears for listening, your feet for tapping, your questions for asking.

Contra fiddling is what you hear at every Wesleyan contra-dance. It’s playful, rhythmic, improvisatory with a repertoire of old and new tunes from Irish, French-Canadian, Old-time and other traditional musics. Emily Troll’s senior thesis presentation brings together New England fiddlers to share tunes and stories with Wesleyan and Middletown audiences with a spotlight on practicing – practice strategies, practice frustrations, practice environments. The event is called “Calliope House” in honor of the Greek muse of poetry and a popular fiddle jig.

Date: Sunday March 28^th
Time: 3 PM
Place: Russell House
What: discussion and music

Arthur Russell is a queer Iowan Buddhist cello player country music lover swimmer disco maker avant garde Indian music bi-coastal hip hop drum machine singer. His music is about love and fun and swimming and being close to people and being so happy that you cry.

Ben writes lyrics about the tiny things that people think about when they’re not talking, like the anatomy of the human hand or the visual structure of trees. His songs are catchy, fun, and technically tight, but when he breaks through his veneer of restraint, he has a whole lotta vocal and guitar power to release. His musical persona is a hardened wild west cow herder dressed proudly in Donna Summers’ favorite sequined dress–he’ll make listeners feel nostalgic for an ill-defined Old West as he performs under a disco ball. The man has a solid stage presence.

This Friday, Ben will be performing the recital part of his thesis. He’ll play some Arthur Russell songs with some musically talented buddies, he’ll play some Arthur Russell songs by himself, and he’ll play some of his own songs.

Date: Friday, March 26
Time: 9:00 PM
Place: CFA Hall (the old CFA Cinema)

Anna Mendes ‘10

The poses will be seated and nude. While you are being painted, you can listen to music or books on tape to pass the time.

If you are interested please call 917 373 5274 or email annabellemendes(at)gmail.com.

Anna would like to begin as soon as possible, so let her know ASAP!